hi and dry

See this perky gang I have pictured above? No, they're not friends. I don't personally know them. They're the (canadian?) stars of a TV show on the Discovery Kids channel, called "Hi-5". Basically, they have this totally goofy TV show where they wear silly outfits, dance around and sing songs, and Graydon loooooooooves them. Actually, he loves one very specific episode, the music episode, where they sing songs the whole time. I don't let him watch TV during the day, but come 4:30 when we are waiting for daddy to come home and he is borderline falling apart, I have found that replaying this one episode (comcast's On Demand) helps stave off the meltdown. It is really amazing, how much he is processing- when he hears the opening song, his head snaps up and swivels towards the TV, and he starts to smile and giggle. I try to only use this show as a last resort, for when I am really desperate. So basically, we have been watching it every day.

This afternoon, he was getting fussy, and I was trying to keep him up a little longer, and I went into our On Demand menu to play this particular episode, and it. was. gone. I am not even kidding you, I totally freaked out. They took it out of rotation! What, what, what am I going to do??? Aaaargh! I am thinking of calling Comcast. I'm sure they'll be accommodating, right? HA!

This is the look he gave me when I told him I couldn't find the episode.

I'm in trouble.

jc's turn

Now these had me rolling on the floor:

1990:



1988:



1984:



1982:

1980:

1978:

1976-the best:

1974:

1970:

1960:

1956:

1954:

Are you kidding me. Hilarious! www.yearbookyourself.com.

yearbook yourself

We are interrupting our regularly scheduled baby talk to bring you something a little different today. JC and I spent a good three hours last night on this website called "Yearbook yourself", where you upload a pic of yourself and then they pretty much photoshop you into different yearbook looks from the fifties, sixties, and seventies. Mine turned out ok, but JC's are flipping hysterical. Here are some examples:

1998:

1996:

1994:

1992:

1986:

1978: (this one's the best)

1976:

1968:

1966:

1964:

1958:

1952:

Ha! I guess this is what you do on a Friday night when you're old and married.Tonmorrow we'll do JC :)

And lest you think we forgot about this guy, he let us know he's keeping an eye on us, as well:

what's wrong with him now part one thousand and one

The little tyrant is not happy.

I'm not sure if it was the two days spent trying to get him to take the bottle while I was at work, or if he's a little under the weather, or possibly trying to work in a new set of teeth. But for some reason, for the last two days everytime I take him to his room to nurse he starts to scream. And by scream I mean, rattle the windows HOWL. What used to be a very serene part of our day has turned into a tension-filled battle royale. He will eat without fuss in other parts of the house, albeit distractedly. So it definitely has to with his room. Aaaargh. I'm hoping it was just the disruption in schedule and he'll get back to normal soon. Because the banshee like wails are going to drop kick me over the edge. We are giving him tylenol just in case it is teething or pain related.

Between our prizefighter rounds in his room, he is actually becoming quite a pleasant baby. Today we played peekaboo for, I don't know, TWO HOURS STRAIGHT. And the reason I was able to keep it up so long is because he was literally beside himself with laughter. And I will do whatever it takes to keep that little boy chock full of giggles.

Yesterday my friend Kim and her delicious baby Casey came over for a playdate. The two babies wrestled for a bit (at one point Gray looked like he was trying to kiss her but I knew better- he was trying to eat her) and then were seemingly happier playing by themselves. With the other baby's toys, of course.

Also, Casey was more interested in talking on the phone (what a girl!):

Today I was supposed to meet up with my friend Amy and baby Bobby but we got our wires crossed and never hooked up. So I went to the grocery store instead, where I made a delightful discovery- the baby is now able to sit upright in the cart! Which means no more Baby Bjorn or car seat in the grocery cart. Thanks to Linda Fringely for the awesome cart cover which protects the baby from the usual grocery store cooties. At any rate, he had a fabulous time sitting up and observing the supermarket from this new vantage point. And I had a fabulous time not breaking my freaking back by carrying him in the Bjorn.

Additionally, at the checkout aisle, they gave him a free balloon! How fabulous! He loved it! True, he did immediately try to bite it, maybe not the best idea with his sharp new teeth. But it entertained him for a good fifteen minutes- worth it!!!



Ok, off to bed. Grady has been sleeping through the night with increasing regularity but last night he totally veered off the rails and woke up twice and refused to be pacified. Even though we were bribing him with breast milk, whiskey, money, whatever! Rough night. Need sleep. Blog again soon.

independence day

So I'm sure that the five people who read this blog have been waiting with bated breath to find out how my first days away from the baby went. Right? :) Well, all went surprisingly (amazingly!) well. Meltdown man kept it in check, and was extraordinarily well behaved, thank goodness. Thanks so much to my mother in law, Chris (aka Grammy) for coming over and taking such good care of him. They had a great time together, and let this nervous mama rest easy. (Of course, I did cry during my training class on the first day. Shocker.)

Here's a good idea of how the day unfolded:

Good morning shnuzzles:

Standing up

Standing up again

And again

Standing up, and getting his move on (I know! Check out that look of determination)

Unexpected visit from Uncle Jeff

Good night shnuzzles:

And that's it! A few tears here and there, but nothing noteworthy. Not a bad day, right? Thank you for taking such good care of our little guy, Grammy!

d-day

Ok, before I get to anything baby related I just have to say that JC and I are watching women's diving at the Olympics, and the female commentator drives me flipping nuts. She's so negative and patronizing, UGH. It's like nails on a chalkboard.

ANYHOO.... we're watching the Olympics in an effort to keep our minds off tomorrow, which will mark the very first day that I've left the baby for more than 2 hours, aaaaargh! I have to take a mandatory work related class on Mon and Tues, 7:30 to 4, so Grammy Byrne is coming over to watch the little monster. I am nervous, not only because Grady is at the point where he totally knows if JC and I are there or not, but also because his attempts at the bottle are hit or miss. It could go really well, or it could be a total disaster. I wonder if Grammy really knows exactly what she's getting herself into... :)

Hopefully, tomorrow will be smooth, and there will be alot of this going on:

I hope that this is how he spends tomorrow, chilling with his favorite kitchen utensils inside a cardboard box. Unfortunately, I think there's a pretty good chance that there'll be a lot of this going on, as well:

Thankfully, we have plenty of wine on hand- just in case.

unbelievable

This is the second night this week that Graydon has slept straight through the night! 6pm to 6am! Twelve straight hours of blissful, uninterrupted slumber! Seriously, who is this baby?

bust a move

Let me just say, this last month has been craaaaa-zay! Graydon has undergone what can only be described as a developmental explosion. He is doing soooo many new things and it is all JC and I can do just to keep up with the little guy. So, to recap:


First, the 6 month checkup. This checkup was mildly disappointing in that we weren't able to get an accurate weight (somebody wouldn't sit still on the scale). He appears to be somewhere between 18 and 19 lbs, as far as we can tell. 27 inches long. He seems to be in perfect health (knock on wood). He got all his shots, and was a cranky cuss for the next 4 days (ugh. He absolutely has definite reactions to the vaccines. Shot day/week is no fun in our household).




Sleep training. Sleep training was going well until shot week reared its ornery head and bit us in the ass. All our work was for naught as Graydon was feeling so crummy that he fought sleep even harder than he usually does. We had several nights where he just stood (yes, stood!) in his crib and screamed FOREVER, and both JC and I broke down and went to pick him up. It's impossible to let your own child cry it out if there's even the slightest possibilty that he's in pain. Simply impossible. So all the progress we had made went pffft. Right out the window. Currently we're trying to get back to where we were, but it's been rough. Especially now that he's standing. Tonight as I put him down, he started crying, and when I turned around at his door to wave good night, he was standing at his crib, sobbing, with his arms held out towards me. Ok, seriously? Hardest thing ever in my life to walk away. Worst. mom. ever. But I know from prior experience that picking him up and rocking him will just make him more over stimulated and take him farther from sleep, so it has to be done. But holy crap, it suuuuuucks.


Now for the fun stuff! My boy is a DEVELOPMENTAL GENIUS. That's right, I'm calling it now. In the past month (5.5 months to 6.5 months) he has accomplished the following:


-started sitting up, which was immediately followed by
-crawling, which was immediately followed by
-standing on his own, which was immediately followed by
-cruising down the side of a couch/ottoman/whatever.



The boy is SO ON THE MOVE. Prediction: he will be walking by month 9, possibly sooner. All he wants to do is move. And it's so fun, at this point, because he follows JC and I around. The other day, I put him on the floor in his bedroom and then went into the bathroom to start his bath. When I turned around, guess who was in the bathroom with me. That's right! This kid is quick. It's really fun to watch him get around. And he's so proud of himself when he gets where he wants to be. It's starting to get fun to have him around! Scandalous. but true!



Here are some pics from today:

Trying to hoist himself up...



Almost there...



Success! Now he can relax.....




Hanging out and blowing rasberries (does this all day long):



Sticking his tongue out at me (also does this move all day long):



Giving me a shit-eating grin- what a devil:



And finally, on a sad note... farewell to Sassy, who may be headed to that big doggy meadow in the sky this weekend. We'll miss you!